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AlaskaAngel · 09-07-2007, 12:19 PM

Hi Erin,

As patients we want to be able to depend on professional advice. But as hard as it can be to believe that providers may not have the right answers, my experience about this is that in general they have not found a way to come up with the best answers.

You have spelled out the reason quite well. We have one single body that has a very complex organization and functions. Each specialized doctor knows a lot about their own part of the body they deal with, or a single type of disease, but not much at all about how all the pieces have to be considered to come up with the best answer for each patient.

It is my belief that until a doctor such as an endocrinologist is given and takes on the responsibility for coordinating that analysis of the body's functions, no matter which doctor gives you advice, the advice will be focused from their own experience only and not based on all the parts that apply most to your situation.

My personal experience:

As a premenopausal woman I had a hyst for benign fibroids 3 years before being diagnosed with bc. I had left the ovaries in and the cervix in. At the time I specifically and respectfully asked my OB-GYN surgeon whether I should take any kind of hormonal support afterward. She said no. In hindsight I think she was dead wrong. I think she doesn't know much about endocrinology or cancer.

There are good reasons to consider leaving in as much as possible, and there are also good reasons for taking some things out. If I were you I would consider at least trying to find and talk with a good endocrinologist who has no bias about the surgery and isn't going to make money from it, or from not doing the surgery, in the hope that maybe you can get some understanding of what hormonal causes and effects (that are so completely invisible to surgeons and oncs) are there for each choice in your particular situation. If the endocrinologist isn't certain about the surgical effects, then ASK the endocrinologist to consult an OB-GYN surgeon and get back to you.

Best wishes,

AlaskaAngel

09-07-2007, 12:19 PM	#4
AlaskaAngel Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 2,018	Choices--and finding the "right" answers Hi Erin, As patients we want to be able to depend on professional advice. But as hard as it can be to believe that providers may not have the right answers, my experience about this is that in general they have not found a way to come up with the best answers. You have spelled out the reason quite well. We have one single body that has a very complex organization and functions. Each specialized doctor knows a lot about their own part of the body they deal with, or a single type of disease, but not much at all about how all the pieces have to be considered to come up with the best answer for each patient. It is my belief that until a doctor such as an endocrinologist is given and takes on the responsibility for coordinating that analysis of the body's functions, no matter which doctor gives you advice, the advice will be focused from their own experience only and not based on all the parts that apply most to your situation. My personal experience: As a premenopausal woman I had a hyst for benign fibroids 3 years before being diagnosed with bc. I had left the ovaries in and the cervix in. At the time I specifically and respectfully asked my OB-GYN surgeon whether I should take any kind of hormonal support afterward. She said no. In hindsight I think she was dead wrong. I think she doesn't know much about endocrinology or cancer. There are good reasons to consider leaving in as much as possible, and there are also good reasons for taking some things out. If I were you I would consider at least trying to find and talk with a good endocrinologist who has no bias about the surgery and isn't going to make money from it, or from not doing the surgery, in the hope that maybe you can get some understanding of what hormonal causes and effects (that are so completely invisible to surgeons and oncs) are there for each choice in your particular situation. If the endocrinologist isn't certain about the surgical effects, then ASK the endocrinologist to consult an OB-GYN surgeon and get back to you. Best wishes, AlaskaAngel